The subject of this patent application relates generally to viewing devices, and more particularly to toy viewing devices configured for remote, selective control of images viewable therethrough and related methods of use.
Applicant hereby incorporates herein by reference any and all patents and published patent applications cited or referred to in this application.
By way of background, various toys and viewing devices are known in the art both for pleasure or entertainment and for investigation and surveillance purposes. Such devices include telescopes, binoculars, and microscopes or an assortment of viewers that are either hand-held or in the form of eyewear, masks, headgear, or the like.
Telescopes and other such devices are generally formed with one or more clear lenses through which a user looks with one or both eyes so as to observe something in the environment opposite of and in the direction of the device, or more particularly to observe light reflected from something in front of the device and transmitted through the device, typically in a manner that makes the object seem larger or closer than it really is. This is often achieved through two convex lenses in series that focus the light in a manner so as to optically enlarge the image of the object as it is communicated to the eye first through the main objective lens and then through the smaller eyepiece lens. Binoculars and microscopes work on a similar principle.
By contrast, typical viewers of various kinds enable a user to see objects that are not real or live by displaying such objects or images through the viewer so as to be seen by one or both of the user's eyes. Traditionally, such viewers operate much like photographic slides, involving images on clear substrates or films that are viewable when backlit, as through looking through the viewer and a selected image slide in the direction of a light source or just in the presence of sufficient ambient light so as to then see the image, the viewers most often configured with portals for both eyes in the nature of binoculars. More recently, viewers for both static and dynamic images take the form of masks or headgear that a user wears on or about his or her head and that have a front portion that covers the wearer's eyes and is configured to position a display screen adjacent to and facing the user's eyes, such that content on the display screen would be seen when the viewing device is worn and activated (i.e., turned on) while blocking out the wearer's periphery and ambient light more generally, such viewers commonly now referred to as “virtual reality headsets” due to the kind of dynamic content displayed that can give the impression or illusion of being in an environment other than where the user actually is (i.e., a “virtual” environment). While such a display screen may be incorporated or built directly into the mask or headgear, most commonly such a viewer device is configured to simply removably or temporarily accommodate a smartphone or other computing device having a display screen so as to position the display device as desired adjacent the wearer's eyes and provide the “virtual reality” viewing experience when the display screen device is operated.
Most recently, though related “head-up” technology dates back many years, various viewer or display devices have been proposed that enable content or images to be displayed on a transparent or semi-transparent screen that allows a user to see such “virtual” or projected content and “real” content beyond. Hence, such viewers are described as providing an “augmented reality” rather than a “virtual reality.” Conventional head-up or heads-up display (“HUD”) technology involves a transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints, typically comprising a projector unit, a combiner (or screen or other display medium), and a video generation computer of some sort, with the projector/combiner technology generally falling into one of four generational categories for image projection: (1) CRT with phosphor screen; (2) solid state light source such as an LED modulated by an LCD screen; (3) optical waveguides to produce images directly in the combiner, eliminating the need for the projector; and (4) scanning lasers to display content directly on the combiner (clear transparent medium). Related technologies that are worn are known as head-mounted display (“HMD”), which would be analogous to virtual reality headsets and the like that typically display only computer-generated images and content. In the case of an optical HMD (“OHMD”), a wearable display is provided that can reflect projected images while allowing a user to see through the display at the same time, again creating an “augmented reality” rather than a “virtual reality.” Another more recent form of somewhat of a hybrid “augmented reality” device is the use of a smartphone as the display, simply held or mounted but otherwise not necessarily incorporated into a mask or the like, with the camera of the smartphone employed in displaying actual surroundings in the direction the camera is pointed but then superimposing CGI images of characters and the like over the camera-fed image, hence “augmenting” reality. In all such cases, while the “real” images of actual surroundings may be seen with the naked eye directly or through a camera feed, the “artificial” images are sourced from computer game software running on the display device or from instrumentation directly connected to the display device (as in the case of aerospace or automotive contexts).
Notably, such prior art devices essentially entail viewing devices through which a user can look to see actual objects, whether or not magnified to any particular extent, virtual reality viewer devices that a user cannot look through to see actual objects or surroundings at all, but instead to see images of objects, whether static or dynamic, or augmented reality viewer devices that overlay actual images with artificial images. What has been needed and heretofore unavailable is a remotely and selectively controlled toy optical viewer apparatus through which a user can see actual objects and surroundings, again whether or not magnified and whether directly or indirectly, and/or superimposed images of objects, whether static or dynamic, such virtual content being selectively controlled from a remote smartphone or other such device paired or wirelessly linked with the viewer apparatus.
Aspects of the present invention fulfill these needs and provide further related advantages as described in the following summary.